As someone who has worked in the healthcare quality field for the past 30 years, I am proud to announce that, last week, my article "Total quality management at Motorola: a successful blueprint for manufacturing and service organizations"(The Journal of Health Administration Education 13(1):15-23, 1995) surpassed 10,000 reads on the Research Gate website alone. It has been among the top 15% of read articles on the site.
About Covid-19
Latest version of omicron accounts for most new infections in many parts of the U.S., genomics testing shows: “The recently emerged version of the coronavirus called BA.2 that has driven a wave of cases in Europe now accounts for as much as 70 percent of new infections in many parts of the United States, according to an estimate from the genomics company Helix that could signal a new chapter in the third year of the pandemic.”
White House officials say U.S. has exhausted funds to buy potential fourth vaccine dose for all Americans: “Federal officials have secured enough doses to cover a fourth shot for Americans age 65 and older as well as the initial regimen for children under 5, should regulators determine those shots are necessary, said three officials, speaking on the condition of anonymity to detail funding decisions. But the officials say they cannot place advance orders for additional vaccine doses for those in other age groups, unless Congress passes a stalled $15 billion funding package.
Smartphone-based COVID-19 detection test from Australia shows high accuracy: “ASX-listed digital health firm ResApp Health has announced that its pilot clinical trial for a smartphone-based COVID-19 screening test has achieved positive results.
The new diagnostic app, which uses machine learning to analyse the sound of a patient's cough, was reported to correctly detect COVID-19 in 92% of participants with the infection during the trial. With a 92% sensitivity, it exceeds real-world measured sensitivity of rapid antigen tests, ResApp claims.”
Moderna says its coronavirus vaccine for young children is safe, but efficacy is a more complicated picture: “Vaccine maker Moderna announced Wednesday its two-dose pediatric coronavirus vaccine was safe in young children, toddlers and babies in a study. But the effectiveness of the shot in children 6 months to 5 years old was more of a mixed picture because of the challenge presented by the highly transmissible omicron variant…
in the face of omicron, the immune defenses mustered by two doses in adults were less robust, particularly in preventing infections — and the same pattern was seen in children, with vaccine efficacy of about 40 percent.”
HHS Distributing an Additional $413 Million in Provider Relief Fund Payments to Health Care Providers Impacted by the COVID-19 Pandemic: “The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), through the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), … announced more than $413 million in Provider Relief Fund (PRF) payments to more than 3,600 providers across the country. This is the fourth round of PRF Phase 4 payments, totaling nearly $12 billion that has been distributed to more than 82,000 providers in all 50 states, Washington D.C., and five territories since November 2021. This is in addition to HRSA’s distribution of American Rescue Plan (ARP) Rural payments totaling nearly $7.5 billion in funding to more than 44,000 providers across the country over the past four months.”
About health insurance
Low-income Americans now can sign up for Obamacare plans with $0 premiums on federal exchange:“Those with incomes less than 150% of the federal poverty level -- $19,320 for an individual and $39,750 for a family of four -- can select policies on healthcare.gov through a special enrollment period, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services told CNN exclusively on Monday. Most people will be able to select plans with no premiums, while others may have to pay a few dollars.
The agency is launching advertising and outreach campaigns to spread the word about the new special enrollment period, which lasts for the rest of the year. The effort will also target those experiencing certain life changes, such as losing job-based coverage, getting divorced or aging out of a parent's policy, which have always allowed them to sign up for Obamacare policies during the year.”
Survey: 4 in 10 misunderstand Medicare Advantage coverage must stay in-network: “A new survey found that four out of 10 Medicare Advantage (MA) customers mistakenly believe they don’t have to stay in-network for care, which is a key difference between the program and traditional Medicare.
The survey was released Tuesday by MedicareGuide.com, which helps with Medicare enrollment and contains responses from 1,148 seniors. It comes as the MA market has increased in size and become a lucrative option for insurers.”
THE RACIAL HEALTH AND WEALTH GAP IMPACT OF MEDICAL DEBT ON BLACK FAMILIES: “Despite the aims of the Affordable Care Act (“ACA”), medical debt remains a looming crisis, disproportionately affecting Black households and communities.
62% of bankruptcies are related to medical debt2
1 in 3 Black adults have past-due medical bills, compared to fewer than 1 in 4 white adults
17% of Black adults lack health insurance compared to 12% of white adults
An array of issues contribute to the current medical debt crisis: rising healthcare costs, lack of insurance, narrow insurance networks, surprise medical bills, high out-of-pocket costs, high deductibles, and inaccessibility of charity care or financial assistance.”
About hospitals and healthcare systems
Advocate Aurora's net income more than triples to $1.8B: Advocate Aurora Health saw its revenue, operating margin and net income increase in 2021, according to financial documents released March 21…
Advocate Aurora's expenses rose 4.9 percent year over year to $13.4 billion. This included $7.7 billion in salaries, wages and benefits and $564.6 million in contract labor expenses. When compared to 2020, expenses for salaries, wages and benefits were up just 3.2 percent and contract labor was up 12 percent.
After factoring in all expenses, Advocate Aurora ended the period with an operating income of $593.6 million.”
In a related story: Advocate Aurora Health Bucks Labor Cost Inflation Trend: “Salary, wage and benefit costs only increased 3.2% from 2020 to 2021 across the 26-hospital system in Wisconsin and Illinois, Advocate Aurora reported Monday. National hospital labor expenses jumped 13% over that span, according to Kaufman Hall.
Advocate Aurora did not have to rely as heavily on staffing agencies last year because it did not cut benefits, furlough staff or lay off employees, the not-for-profit system said in a statement. Contract labor wages surged 44% from 2020 to 2021, Kaufman Hall data show.”
Henry Ford Health System gets new name, logo in rebranding campaign: It will now be known as Henry Ford Health. The article has an interesting video of the evolution of the organization’s name and logos.
About pharma
Study Shows That Intranasal Rx Halts Memory Decay in Experimental Alzheimer’s Model: “A research collaboration between scientists at LSU Health New Orleans and the Karolinska Institute in Sweden has found that applying specialized pro-resolving lipid mediators intranasally arrested memory loss and brain degeneration in an experimental model of Alzheimer's Disease (AD). The results are published in the Nature journal, Communications Biology…
The authors conclude that the noninvasive administration route, intranasal delivery, of biologically active lipid messengers opens avenues for therapeutic exploration for AD and other neurodegenerative diseases.”
Cancer giants BMS, AstraZeneca clash in new checkpoint inhibitor patent suit: “After Bristol Myers Squibb took Merck & Co. and Roche to task for patent infringement with their big-selling immuno-oncology drugs, the drugmaker is now pressing its case against AstraZeneca.
In a newly filed lawsuit in Delaware, Bristol Myers says AZ is ‘exploiting’ its research and patents by marketing a ‘later-developed anti-PD-L1 drug,’ than its own Opdivo, which scored FDA approval in 2014. Because the companies are ‘direct competitors,’ BMS says it's suffering ‘substantial damages, including lost profits’ because of AZ's Imfinzi marketing.”
J&J to restrict 340B discounts for 29 drugs: “Johnson & Johnson will stop offering 340B discounts to safety-net hospitals effective May 2 if providers do not submit certain patient claims data, the drugmaker said March 21…
This announcement makes Johnson & Johnson the 16th drugmaker to limit 340B discounts to safety-net hospitals for drugs dispensed at community-based pharmacies.”
Pfizer pulls blood pressure medicines in US over cancer-causing impurities: On Monday, Pfizer issued a voluntary recall of its blood pressure drug Accuretic along with a pair of its generic hypertension treatments distributed by Greenstone.
All of the recalls—in addition to several rounds of recalls last summer of Pfizer’s smoking-cessation drug Chantix—were triggered because of the presence of nitrosamines. The impurities are commonly found in the air, drinking water, dairy products, vegetables and cured and grilled meats and “may increase the risk of cancer if people are exposed to them above acceptable levels over long periods of time,” Pfizer said in its statement.
The company said it has not received any reports of adverse events linked to any of the treatments and there is no immediate risk to patients taking the medication.
Pioneer Institute report calls 340B an 'increasingly dysfunctional' program: “The free market-focused think tank's analysis found that while the revenue hospitals generate in the program has grown exponentially, major Massachusetts hospitals have been cutting back on charity care. Drug sales in the 340B program grew from $9 billion in 2014 to $38 billion in 2020, according to the report.
In 2005, just 583 hospitals participated in the program, according to the report. By 2019, under the Affordable Care Act, the program grew to include more than 2,500 hospitals and to account for 8% of all prescriptions in the U.S.
The program's explosive growth has likely led to "mission drift," according to the report. Many hospitals view the program the way a for-profit entity would, buying drugs at a low cost and then reselling them to both government and commercial payers at higher profits, according to the report.”
FDA Declares Some Ophthalmic Products Combo Instead of Just Drug Products: “The FDA has reclassified ophthalmic drugs packaged with eye cups, eye droppers or other dispensers as ‘drug-led combination products’ rather than just drugs, the agency said in a final guidance.”
Comment: This action demonstrates the “slippery slope” of what constitutes a drug versus a combination product.
About the public’s health
Food Insecurity and Cardiometabolic Markers: Results From the Study of Latino Youth: “Lower FS [food security] is associated with unfavorable MetS-relevant cardiometabolic markers in Hispanic/Latino youth. These findings also support the use of a child-level versus a household-level measure to capture the health implications of food insecurity in this population.”
Failed Attempts to Quit Combustible Cigarettes and e-Cigarettes Among US Adolescents: “Among adolescents, reported prevalence of an unsuccessful cigarette quit attempt declined between 1997 and 2020. In 2020, the prevalence of unsuccessful quit attempts among adolescents who had used either e-cigarettes or cigarettes was higher than the prevalence of unsuccessful cigarette quit attempts in each of the previous 13 years.”
About healthcare IT
Telehealth Was Critical for Providing Services to Medicare Beneficiaries During the First Year of the COVID-19 Pandemic: From the HHS OIG: “This data brief provides insight into the use of telehealth in both Medicare fee-for-service and Medicare Advantage during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic…
Key Takeaways:
o Over 28 million Medicare beneficiaries used telehealth during the first year of the pandemic. This was more than 2 in 5 Medicare beneficiaries.
o Beneficiaries used 88 times more telehealth services during the first year of the pandemic than they used in the prior year.
o Beneficiaries’ use of telehealth peaked at the beginning of the pandemic and remained high through early 2021.
o Beneficiaries most commonly used telehealth for office visits during the first year of the pandemic.”
6 Top Telehealth Companies: Teledoc is #1. Read the article for more information on these companies
About health technology
MIT, Mass General researchers develop handheld robot for tapping into blood vessels: “Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Massachusetts General Hospital are developing a robotically guided handheld device that can quickly tap into a patient’s central artery, allowing first responders and other healthcare professionals to easily apply emergency therapies with little training.
The system uses an artificial intelligence-powered ultrasound scanner to guide needles and catheter hardware, to help stem severe bleeding, or deliver fluids and medications—all while potentially in the back of an ambulance.”
About healthcare finance
Humana Prices $750 Million Debt Offering: “Humana Inc. announced… that it has priced a public offering of $750 million aggregate principal amount of the company’s 3.700 percent senior notes, due 2029 (the ‘Senior Notes Offering’). The Senior Notes Offering is expected to close on March 23, 2022, subject to the satisfaction of customary closing conditions.
The company expects net proceeds from the Senior Notes Offering will be approximately $741.1 million, after deducting underwriters’ discounts and estimated offering expenses. The company intends to use the net proceeds from the Senior Notes Offering for general corporate purposes, which may include the repayment of existing indebtedness, including borrowings under the company’s commercial paper program.”